Bandhavgarh, India 2017 Part II.

 A  month went by without me posting a blog and will be mostly gone for the next 3 months.  The peacock is to India what the Bald Eagle is to the USA.  It is common in the forest, and during April when I was there, they were busy displaying to attract the peahens, and most often, after the fancy displays, the peahens just walked away.  At times you see several peacocks displaying closely while being watched by the peahens.  If one is accepted, the peahen walks to him; they do the thing, and part their ways. The fish-eating owl next is often seen and I believe they are territorial since I had seen them on the same spots during prior years. During previous visits I saw one blinded in one eye but not this time. And lastly, the same behavior applies to the snake-eating owl.

 The Indian roller is common but not as beautiful as the Lilac-Breasted roller from Africa.  Still it is an attractive bird, always very active. The rollers were in their nesting season so the males were offering worms to lure the females. The hornbills were also busy feeding their chicks; they always nest in tree cavities.  And then, the common kingfishers; what an appropriate name, they were everywhere but hard to photograph. By the way, the most common beer in India is named Kingfisher and so was a now defunct airline. Typical of these birds they have favorite perches that they defend by dive-bombing any intruders.

 Below is a Red Wattled Plover that I had not seen before; there is always some new species to see no matter how many times you go to India.  And then there is the Mynah bird, very common and sold at the pet stores here.  The Ringneck parakeets (really parrots), also sold in pet stores, were always in groups and noisy; the one below is feasting in the flowers.

 The Spotted Owlet was seen daily at his hollow in the tree; there were really two but every time I got there, one would hide.  The Red-headed vultures could be found at sunrise and sunset at the same perching trees where they spent the night. They are scavengers but I did not see them feeding; with the amount of spotted deer I was expecting to see them having a feast. Why the black and white photo?  I thought these birds look creepier than they already in those colors. By the way, certain populations of vultures in India are threatened with extinction due to viral infections and diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug administered to cattle, that died, and are eaten by these birds.

 There were more than birds - such as monitor lizards; these were abundant and not shy, easy to photograph.  Jackals were also common and mostly seen early in the morning; always moving at a fast pace, they kept their distance.

 The gaur, also known as the Indian Bison, is a forest animal and the largest bovine in India and tallest in the world.  They are very powerful and aggressive, when we encountered one in the forest trails; we waited until they moved on. Notice the white legs.  The sambars are the favorite prey of the tigers, below are pair that were refreshing in a waterhole; they are nervous and will run if you just make a hand gesture. 

 While waiting for something to happen, I could hear the sound of raindrops but there was no rain.  I finally realized that during this season there is a bloom of caterpillars that eats the leaves in the canopy and that what I was hearing was their droppings when hitting the forest floor covered with dead leaves. If you go to my previous year blog about India, you will images of these creatures.  When I arrived in Bandhavgarh, the trees were sprouting leaves and flowerings, by the third day, all was green and flowering. There is a noticeable fragrance from the flowers that are eaten by some of the birds and the bees were active but there are not hummingbirds, here they have sunbirds occupying the same niche as Africa. Have so much material from India; next Kanha.

Bandhavgarh…more than Tigers.



This was my second visit to this park and in lots of ways, different than the last time.  The crows were not there; particularly the absence of foreign tourists was noticed, the local nationals dominated this time.  More tigers were seen than last year during the same time period.

 

While there last year BBC was making a documentary of the “one-eyed tiger” called Kantaki.  She had 3 cubs then but all were killed; this year two.  She was very protective of them and we did not see them.  The story that I heard is that she lost the eye in a territorial fight with another female and was defeated.  But after healing she returned and killed the previous victor.  My friends were intensively focused in the opportunity to photograph the famous “one eyed tigress” called Kankati. I was lucky to photograph her walking in a creek after cooling herself; the temperature at the time was 112 degrees F.

 

The monkeys are always there staring at you wondering why you are such a big monkey and they so small.  I would say that the most abundant are the langurs.  One Langur threatened to break my camera with a stone but I was not intimidated; his terrorizing face did not stop me. They spent most of the time moving thru the forest looking for food and the young ones playing in what look like serious fights.  These monkeys are smart…they take a siesta in the middle of the day.  And the Rhesus monkeys stare back at you trying to figure out what you are.

 

And there are spotted deer, probably the most abundant ungulate in the park , as well as the wild boards and the jackals…this was the first time I had seen one in the park.  The Sambar is the largest deer in the park.  They wade in streams and feed on  the grass growing at the bottom of the streams.  In the image below the male was guarding the female from other males that were trying to mate with her.

 

The peacock is very abundant and most often,  displaying their feathers to atract the peahens.  I was lucky to catch one flying; not easy since they just unexpectedly fly up or down from a favorite perching branch.  Next is the Crested Serpent Eagle; this is an old acquiantance from last year. I recognized it since it is blind in one eye, I was pleased to know that it has survived one more year with such a handicap. The thicknee is also another special bird for me since I had seen them or their close cousins within the genus  Burhinus (but diferent species) in Africa, South America and Australia.  It is a very peculiar plover with large eyes and as the name implies “thick knees”.  

 

 This time I had the opportunity to travel at sunset along the small farming communities in the viscinity  of park.  What an exhuberance of colors and friendly people. There were lots of activities as collecting the wheat crop, making bricks,  finishing walls and looking for firewood and pumping water from the community wells.  Rather than providing more details, I rather post a few images.

 

I cannot catchup updating the blog since I have recently been in the “unfriendly skies” going  places  and catching strange diseases.  So I will part with a photo of a resort in Yala that saw better days.